Frames of Change: A Systematic Review of Film’s Role in Malaysia’s Political Transformation

Nurhidayu Rosli, Zarina Othman, Muhammad Luqman Rosli

Abstract


Films are powerful communication tools, combining audio and visual elements to convey messages and achieve objectives. Beyond entertainment, they act as agents of political change, shaping public opinion and serving as instruments of national propaganda. Despite inconsistent public interest in Malaysia, films exert substantial influence as a soft power instrument. This study uses a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to analyse the role of films in Malaysia's political transformation, addressing the absence of systematic synthesis despite growing scholarly interest. Five research questions addressed influence, censorship, audience interpretation, thematic focus, and narrative strategies. Guided by the 27 PRISMA checklist items hybridised with SPIDER framework criteria, searches across Web of Science, Sage Journals, Scopus, Springer, Taylor and Francis, and Wiley yielded 11,506 records, of which 18 qualitative and mixed-method studies (2015–2025) met the eligibility criteria and passed critical appraisal using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The findings reveal recurring themes of censorship, propaganda, political expression, and media regulation, underscoring the entanglement of film and state power. Cinematic influence operates through ideological reinforcement, narrative contestation, and symbolic mediation; filmmakers negotiate an opaque censorship regime through anticipatory self-censorship, allegory, and circumvention via festivals and digital platforms; and audiences act as active interpreters rather than passive recipients. Thematically, the corpus traces a shift from Golden Age nation-building narratives to a fragmented, contested cinema shaped by Islamisation and post-reformasi activism. This study contributes to scholarly discourse on politics and cinema in Malaysia, with implications for censorship reform, independent platform support, and media education.

 

Keywords: Films, Malaysia, media, systematic literature review, political transformation.

 

https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2026-4203-09


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References


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